Roofing tile



NOV.. 28, 1933- F KOCH ROOFING TILE Filed April 14, 1930 Suva/nto@Patented Nov. 28, 17933 curi-'eo STATES Airnrsur otros 2 claims.

Roofing constructed from burned ceramics or tile has advantages ofpermanence and artistic appearance, but heretofore `its cost has greatlyexceeded that of good grades of wooden shingles. Further, the weight ofthe tile in the completed roof has been many times that of such shinglesso that where an old roof of the latter type has required recovering ithas been necessary, in most cases, if tile is to be employed, to greatlyreinforce the roof supports. By my improvements, 1 aord a tile roof at acost about equal to that of good cedar shingles and at the same time itpossible to cover an old roof with artistic tile, in most cases, withoutreinforcement of the supports.

There are two general classes of economies which are eifected by myroofing, namely, nrst those which relate to the tile form andmanufacture of relatively thin, burned units, including the handlingthereof prior to placing them on the roof; and second, those whichrelate to the construction of a roof from such tile. The presentinvention is chiefly concerned with the first class of economies, whilethe second class is more fully described and claimed in my copendingapplication for patent for improvements in tile roof and method ofconstructing the same, Serial No. 469,557, filed July 21,1930.

succinctly stated, it is the object of the present invention to providea durable roofing tile of unusually light weight and low cost adapted tobe employed to construct a roof of artistic appearance with a minimum oflabor and structural materials.

Further objects are to minimize the vvorlr` of handling the tiles, tofacilitate the construction of a roof neatly and quickly and to minimizelosses due to cracking and warping during the drying and burningoperations.

1n the drawingwhich illustrates the best form of my' improved tile atpresent known to me, Figure l is an end view of one of the tile blocks;Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, with the normal location of thefastening nail indicated; Fig. 3 is a plan view illustrating thearrangement of a group of tile units on the roof, with portions of twoof the units broken away to show the attaching means; Fig. 4 is afragmentary section through one of the nail slots, taken on the line 4 4of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a similar section taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section y taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3.

I employ as the raw material for my improvedv tile a suitable clay whichis ground and reduced to the desired plastic consistency for extrudingthrough a die. An auger machine of any suitable or well knownconstruction is used for the extruding operation and contains a dieconstructed to form a continuous, tubular body like that illustrated inFig. l. This tubular body is cut into sections ofthe desired, uniformlength, preferably equal to the length of the shingle units. Tile blocksabout l2 inches in length and about 5 inches in diameter with wallsapproximately onehalf inch thick at the thickest point can be handledreadily are Well suited for my purposes. Four individual tile or shingleunits 7 are thus forrned of equal size and arranged symmetrically aroundthe circumference of each tile blocir.

Extending along the side edge of each shingle unit 7 is a curved portionwhich diminishes in thickness toward its outer edge. ln the tile blocksthe units are connected by naturally weaklines of cleavage 9 (Figs. land 2)'. The central portion of each unit is straight and has planeinner and outer surfaces which are of equal width. An arrow l0 (Fig. vl)indicates the radius of curvature of the outer curved surface of eachtile and an arrow 11 indicates the radius of curvature of the innersurface, both surfaces being cylindrical. These radii l0 and l1 areequal and the centers from which the radii of adjacent tile edges extendare indicated on the dotted construction lines' l2 which areperpendicular` to each other and to the plane surfaces of the stra-ightsegments. Thus it will be evidentthat the inner and outer surfaces ofeach tile unit are alike so that one unit is adapted to t in nestingengagement with another, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. Each tile block,while green, is formed with at least' two slots extending through thetile units near one end to receive nails or like means for securing theunits to a roof. These slots 13 are Wedge-shapedl with the narrow end ofthe slot adjacent to the normally upper end of the tile unit. The largerend of the slot 13 is of such size as to permit the free passagetherethrough of the head 14a of a nail 14, or other securing means. Anenlargement l3a'of the slot 13 near the outer surface of the tile blockpermits the head lic 'to be counter-sunk, as clearly shown in Figs. 4, 5and 6. Proper location and uniformity of the slots i3 in the severaltile units is insured by suitable automatic perforating mechanism.

The green tile blocks described above are now dried at a temperature of80 to 14:0v degreesl Fahrenheit for a period of from twenty-four tothirty-six hours and are then placed in an oven and burned at atemperature of about 2000 to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit for a period ofthree to ve days. Obviously, these temperatures and periods of dryingand burning may be varied and are dependent on the composition of clayemployed as Well as the thickness of the walls of the tile block.

During shipping and handling and until they reach the location of theroof to be covered, the tile units may be retained in the block form. Toseparate the several units of a block it is only necessary to deliver aslight blow directed transverse the tubular body when the four unitsfall apart and separate almost universally along the straight, weakenedlines 9.

In constructing a roof covering with my improved tile, the units arepreferably arranged as shown in Figs. 3 and 6.

up and the other half with the edges turned down. Those in the firstmentioned position are hereinafter designated as foundation tile becausethey are adjacent the roof. The foundation tile are indicated by thenumeral '7a adjacent to a roof 15. The tile disposed with their curvededges extending down are indicated at '7b and are called the cover tile.

The tile are placed on the roof in successive, overlapping courses.Beginning at the lower edge ofthe roof a horizontally extending courseof the foundation tile 7c is first laid, these tile being placed inspaced relation to each other. They are secured to the roof by the useof nails engaging in the slots 13 near their upper ends, Upon the row offoundation tile thus laid, a course of cover tile 7b is placed inoverlapping relation to the curved side edges of therst course andcovering the space between the tile. The upper ends of the cover tile inthe first course are located a short distance below the upper ends ofthe rst course of foundation tile and said cover tile are secured by theuse of the nails 14.k

Another course of foundation tile may now be laid with the lower ends ofthe tile overlapping the upper ends of the first course of foundationtile and abutting the upper ends of the first course of cover tile, asindicated at 16 in Fig. 3, where portions of the cover tile are brokenaway. The second course of foundation tile need not be secured to theroof as they are held in place by the overlapping edges of the covertile and are prevented from sliding down the roof by the cover tile ofthe course beneath. Successive courses of alternate foundation and covertile are thus laid with the courses of cover tile lap- Vping the upperends of the course beneath and concealing the rows of nails 14 and slotstherefor.

Proper placing of the successive courses is insured by locating thenails 14 in uniformly spaced relation on the roof, and projectingtherefrom the proper height, prior to the placing of the tile. Themethod of procedure to secure this result is more fully described in mycopending application for patent on tile roof andY method ofconstructing the same, but it is important to note that the tile of thepresent invention is designed for use with such method. When the nailshave been properly located on the roof successive courses of foundationand cover tile are arranged as above described and are secured in placeby merely passing a head of a nail 14 through the large end of each slot13 and then sliding the tile down the roof a short distance to cause arm gripping of Half of the tile arev placed with their curved side edgesextending the nail in the narrow end of the slot. The heads of the nailsare counter-sunk so as not to interfere with the proper nesting of theoverlying course of cover tile.

Accidental removal of a tile is prevented because movement up the roof,such as is necessary to disengage the nail from the wedge slot, must beaccompanied by a raising of the cover tile and movement of at least twoof the foundation tile in the superimposed course up the roof.Notwithstanding this secure fastening of the tile to the roof, when andif repairs are'necessary, it is easy to manually detach selected unitsand replace them because of the detachable connecting means. It will nowbe understood that the foundation tile form continuous troughs extendingfrom the top to the bottom of the roof and the cover tile form ridgeswhich shed the water into such troughs. The capacity of the troughs thusformed to carry off an ample amount of water is insured by myarrangement of the straight central portions with the upturned edgeportions eatending beneath the lapped edges of the cover tile. Facilityin placing the tile on the roof and a stable condition in the finishedroof are further benets secured by providing the straight centralportions on the tile. As best shown in Fig. 6, there are two lines ofcontact between the side edges of each. foundation tile and itsoverlying cover tile and between these lines of contact there is achamber having suilicient capacity toV guard against the tendency of thewind to drive small streams of water past the overlapping edges duringwind storms. These various features ccmbine to make an unusuallyleak-proof roof.

By my symmetrical arrangement of the tile units around the circumferenceof the block and the absence of any projections, I secure uniform dryingaround the circumference of the tubular body and throughout the wallsthereof. This an important feature of the invention because I therebypractically eliminate the heretofore troublesome cracking and warping ofthe tile units during drying and burning. Obviously the side edges ofthe units must be straight in order to secure a proper fitting of theindividual tile together' on the roof. The tubular type of tile body hasthe further advantage of facilitating the handling of the tile andkeeping the units together in sets of perforated and unperforated units.d

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protectby Letters Patent is:

1. A'roong tile having a wide, flat central p0rtion, and relativelynarrow curved edge portions diminishing in thickness toward their outeredges and the inner and outer surfaces of the tile seing of like widthand degree of curvature to permit the fitting of the inner surface ofone tile in continuous face to face contact with the outer sury

